Autumn rain fell without end.
Fuyuki stood inside the Secret Base, staring at his own hands in disbelief.
Secret Power wasn't a one-time thing. It was an ability, a Pokémon move he had mastered himself. Once it was unlocked, he could use it freely from then on.
For now, he could use it up to three times a day, but that didn't seem like the true limit. It felt more like something that would slowly increase as he grew stronger.
Did that mean humans were basically a kind of Pokémon too?
The thought slipped into his mind before he brushed it aside.
Whether that was true or not didn't matter right now.
There was something far more important waiting to be done.
A Secret Base with only one room was nowhere near enough.
Since he still had two uses of the ability left today, Fuyuki decided to use them all at once.
The interior of Mount Tensei was massive. Under Entei's puzzled gaze, he walked up to one of the walls and reached out.
The familiar white light bloomed again.
When it faded, a brand-new room stood before them.
Entei's pupils shrank.
But what shocked it even more was that the Little One wasn't finished yet.
He walked to another wall and repeated the motion.
Another spacious, empty room appeared.
"Little One…" Entei stared blankly at the scene. It hadn't expected his power to be this overwhelming.
"All done!" Fuyuki clapped his hands, clearly pleased with his work.
Entei stepped closer, standing beside him as they looked at the rooms together.
"These are…?"
Fuyuki grinned. "This one's Raikou's room. This is Marshadow's room. And this one's ours!"
"…They don't need that much space," Entei said after a pause.
"Yeah, that's true." Fuyuki nodded thoughtfully. Raikou barely came back all year, and Marshadow spent all day in the shadow world.
"In that case…" An idea struck him. "We'll turn this room into a bathroom so it's easier to bathe."
"And this one can be a storage room for food!"
With a thousand Shock Points left, he opened the system shop as he talked and started planning more renovations.
[Bathtub: Furniture for bathing together with Pokémon. Cost: 700 Shock Points.]
[Fully Automatic Flush Toilet: Household item for personal hygiene. Must be installed where there is a water source. Can be paired with a Distortion Space Connector. Waste is automatically flushed into the Distortion World. Cost: 1000 Shock Points.]
[Refrigerator: Appliance for preserving food. Requires a generator. Cost: 1500 Shock Points.]
[Wooden Dining Table: Full furniture set for meals. Cost: 500 Shock Points.]
[Tableware Set: Full set of dining utensils. Cost: 300 Shock Points.]
[Fabric Sofa: Sofa for resting. Cost: 600 Shock Points.]
[Wooden Walls: Change the wall material of a room. Cost: 2000 Shock Points.]
[Marble Walls: Change the wall material of a room. Cost: 3000 Shock Points.]
[Pink Wallpaper: Replace room wallpaper. Cost: 200 Shock Points.]
[Automatic Lighting Window: Can be installed inside caves to simulate real sunlight shining in from outside. Cost: 1000 Shock Points.]
Fuyuki: "…"
He couldn't afford any of it. Not even close.
All the excitement drained out of him at once.
"What's wrong, Little One?" Entei asked immediately.
"Not enough power… I can't keep remodeling." He explained it in a way Entei could understand. "It's like when Raikou uses Thunder, it needs Electric-type energy first."
Entei understood. He was out of energy.
Even so, for someone so small to do all this already was incredible.
Still, seeing the Little One so dejected made Entei's chest ache.
"You'll be able to do more once you grow up," it said gently.
Fuyuki sighed again, his little face full of worry. The wild Pokémon nearby had already given him all the Shock Points they had. No matter how many tricks he pulled now, or even if he spoke Pokémon language, nothing surprised them anymore.
"I really want to grow up faster," he muttered.
Entei licked his face. "You will."
The remaining thousand Shock Points were awkward, not enough for anything worthwhile. He decided to save them for later.
Curled up against Entei's warm, fluffy belly, he listened to the steady autumn rain outside the cave.
Inside, it was dry and cozy. The wooden floor was covered with thick wool rugs, soft underfoot. Rain pattered faintly beyond the cave walls. Surrounded by that comfort, drowsiness crept in fast.
Entei stayed still, letting him use its body as a pillow.
Resting there, Fuyuki couldn't help but think that ever since coming to the Pokémon world, he had never imagined he'd end up like this, lying beside Entei, one of the Legendary Beasts.
Fate really was strange.
"Entei," he called softly.
Its gaze shifted to him at once.
"What were you doing before?" he asked.
Entei paused, then answered, "Before… like Raikou, I traveled across the land, helping Pokémon in need. That was the mission Ho-Oh entrusted to us."
"Ho-Oh?"
"Mm." Entei nodded its massive head, looking through the curtain of rain toward the distance. "Raikou, Suicune, and I should have died one hundred and fifty years ago. Ho-Oh used its power to revive us. Since then, we've been searching for it."
"Died?" Fuyuki froze, memories of the Legendary Beasts' origins surfacing in his mind.
They were said to be three unknown Pokémon that perished in a fire at the Burned Tower in Ecruteak City.
Ho-Oh revived them, and they became its envoys, watching over humanity.
The legend was real.
He looked up at Entei.
In its eyes, he almost saw that day.
A night of torrential rain, thunder tearing through the sky. Lightning struck the tower, flames roaring to life.
Three Pokémon were trapped inside, burned alive.
Then Ho-Oh appeared, scattering Sacred Ash and bringing them back to life.
In that rebirth, they fused with the forces around them and gained new power.
The lightning that struck the tower became Raikou.
The raging flames became Entei.
The falling rain became Suicune.
Looking at the dignified, ever-serious big cat in front of him, Fuyuki felt a tight ache in his chest.
How much must it have hurt, being trapped in the flames like that?
"Did it hurt?" he asked quietly.
Entei stiffened, realizing what he meant.
But that day was so far in the past now that even the pain had faded from memory.
Not wanting the Little One to worry, it shook its head gently. "It didn't hurt."
"You're lying," Fuyuki said, voice muffled.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
You can read up to chapter 54 and more soon on patreon.com/NiaXD.